Focus Damn You!

Have you watched the WSOP 2010 final table? I didn't expect it to feel like a boxing match, with the players entering one at a time accompanied by girls carrying cards showing their seat number.Aand Bruce Buffer announcing "It's TIIIIMMEE!" followed by "Shuffle Up and Deal" didn't help. Lol. Well, now that I got that out of the way, onto the main topic.

I haven't been playing a lot online recently. And it doesn't help that when I do, I drop huge sums. Maybe I shouldn't force it, or maybe I should keep on diving in and let my "EV" kick in (if it were positive to start with). One thing's for sure, I need structure. And Focus.

I'm involved with a lot of things and my focus is really scrambled. There's poker then there's online poker then there's my other ventures then there's looking for a place. I hope when I settle in the new place I can also settle into a new rhythm. I won't be playing online for the rest of the month, or until I settle all these settling business.

With the live grind deal about to be in full swing, I have decided not to touch my income from other assets and live solely from poker. Why? So I'll be pot-committed, so to speak. I have the this theory that in doing this will force me to play like I mean it - to play like my life depended on it, because to a degree it will.

The first problem I see is I'll be having a harder time switching between online and live. Right now I don't even know which one's going to be my bread and butter, but I know it can be done either way. The way I see it is I will get my rent money from rakeback, and employ some sort of bankroll management with a reward system, similar to this:

I like this system because it adds motivation, and that'll surely help me increase my volume. I might need some input making a system that suits my needs.


I had some conversations with some peers and they all pointed out the same thing. I seem to be everywhere at once. I'm always involved in more than one project. I handle multiple ventures at a time. I can't seem to devote my whole attention to just one thing, and that could prove fatal.

So I asked around and browsed around for some advice to improve focus and concentration, and the recurring them is that I need a routine or a ritual. When I first saw the word ritual I immediately thought animal sacrifices and I thought I wouldn't mind slitting a goat's throat every week if it means improving my focus. If only it were that easy. It was a common advice to do something that will ease you into the mindset of doing the task you have to do. Something like warming up and shadow-boxing before entering the ring to fight.

So I plan on making it my pre-grinding ritual to read at least one COTW of 2p2 or one poker concept article before I grind. I don't know if this will be enough of a warm up, maybe I should add something else. But for now I guess that'll do. I'll let you know how it works out. Wish me luck.